Information processing apparatus, method of controlling the same, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

There is provided an information processing apparatus and a method of controlling the same. The information processing apparatus performs a device search, displays search results of the device search, and generates tag information to be written into a short range wireless communication tag, using identification information of a device selected by a user based on the displayed search results. Then, the information processing apparatus writes the generated tag information into the short range wireless communication tag with the short range wireless communication.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/621,294, filed Jun. 13, 2017, which is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/739,161, filed Jun. 15, 2015, and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 9,693,177 on Jun. 27, 2017, which claims priority to JapanesePatent Application No. 2014-130688, filed Jun. 25, 2014, the entiredisclosures of which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, amethod of controlling the same, and a storage medium.

Description of the Related Art

There is a printing apparatus provided with an NFC (Near FieldCommunication) tag which records device-identifying information such asconnection information (IP address and MAC address) of the printingapparatus. Also, there is a mobile terminal capable of reading contentsof the NFC tag and executing an application used to print images anddocuments. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-157736describes a method in which with an image being displayed by launchingan application on such a mobile terminal, information is read from theNFC tag by touching the NFC tag of a printing apparatus with the mobileterminal and the image is printed by the printing apparatus by means ofa handover using the information.

As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-157736, in order touse the NFC tag, it is necessary to write connection information (IPaddress and MAC address of the printing apparatus) into the NFC tag ofthe printing apparatus in advance. In so doing, with respect to aportion such as a tag sticker (NFC sticker) which cannot communicatewith a controller of the printing apparatus, it is necessary to writenecessary information from outside using a writing application or thelike. In this case, an input error might occur when a user entersconnection information manually, and if connection informationcontaining such an input error has been written into the NFC tag, thereis a problem in that printing using the printing apparatus cannot beexecuted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentionedproblems which are found in the conventional technology.

A feature of the present invention is to provide a technique which canprevent a user from inputting wrong information when information used incommunication is written into a partner apparatus.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information processing apparatus, comprising: a search unitconfigured to perform a device search; a display unit configured todisplay search results of the device search by the search unit; ageneration unit configured to generate tag information to be writteninto a short range wireless communication tag, using identificationinformation of a device selected by a user based on the search results;and a writing unit configured to write the tag information generated bythe generation unit into the short range wireless communication tag witha short range wireless communication.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising:controlling the information processing apparatus so as to perform adevice search; displaying search results of the device search;generating tag information to be written into a short range wirelesscommunication tag, using identification information of a device selectedby a user based on the search results; and controlling the informationprocessing apparatus so as to write the tag information generated in thegenerating into the short range wireless communication tag with a shortrange wireless communication.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of embodiments with reference to the attacheddrawings. Note, in the accompanying drawings, the same referencenumerals are added for same or similar configuration elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1A is a diagram for describing a configuration of a communicationsystem according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram for describing a hardware configuration of anNFC tag according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram for describing a hardware configuration of amobile terminal according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram for describing a softwareconfiguration of the mobile terminal according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 3A to 3D depict views illustrating an example of transition ofscreens displayed on an operation panel of the mobile terminal accordingto the first embodiment.

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict views illustrating an example of transition ofscreens displayed on the operation panel of the mobile terminalaccording to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for describing processing of the mobile terminalfor writing into the NFC tag of the printing apparatus in the firstembodiment.

FIGS. 6A to 6C depict views illustrating an example of transition ofscreens displayed on an operation panel of a mobile terminal accordingto a second embodiment.

FIGS. 7A to 7C depict views illustrating an example of transition ofscreens displayed on the operation panel of the mobile terminalaccording to the second embodiment.

FIGS. 8A to 8C depict views illustrating an example of transition ofscreens displayed on the operation panel of the mobile terminalaccording to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for describing processing of the mobile terminalaccording to the second embodiment, in which the mobile terminalsearches for a printing apparatus by radio and writes connectioninformation into the NFC tag of the printing apparatus.

FIGS. 10A to 10D depict views illustrating examples of a screendisplayed on an operation panel of a mobile terminal according to athird embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for describing processing of the mobile terminalaccording to the third embodiment.

FIG. 12A is a diagram showing an example of a format for writing into anNFC tag in the embodiments.

FIG. 12B is a diagram showing an example of a format for writing into anNFC tag according to the embodiments.

FIG. 12C is a diagram showing an example of a table in which acorrespondence between a printing method and an application isregistered.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for describing processing of the mobile terminalaccording to the first embodiment, in which the mobile terminal readsthe NFC tag of a printing apparatus and makes the printing apparatusperform printing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter indetail, with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to beunderstood that the following embodiments are not intended to limit theclaims of the present invention, and that not all of the combinations ofthe aspects that are described according to the following embodimentsare necessarily required with respect to the means to solve the problemsaccording to the present invention.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1A is a diagram for describing a configuration of a communicationsystem according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The communication system according to the first embodiment includes amobile terminal 100 such as a smartphone, a printing apparatus 110, anNFC (Near Field Communication) tag 111, and an access point 120. Theprinting apparatus 110, which is a multifunction peripheral equippedwith, for example, a printing function, scanning function, and faxfunction, conducts wireless communication such as Wi-Fi with the accesspoint 120. Note that the communication between the access point 120 andprinting apparatus 110 is not limited to wireless communication, and maybe wire communication using a LAN cable or the like. The mobile terminal100 is capable of conducting wireless communication such as Wi-Fi. Whena user enters an SSID or a security key of the access point 120 into themobile terminal 100, the mobile terminal 100 is connected to the accesspoint 120 and allowed to communicate with the printing apparatus 110through the access point 120. Also, the mobile terminal 100 can transmita print job to the printing apparatus 110 and other apparatus (notshown) connected via the access point 120. When a print job istransmitted to the printing apparatus 110 from the mobile terminal 100,the printing apparatus 110 which receives the print job performsprinting according to the print job.

Also, the mobile terminal 100 and printing apparatus 110 can conductshort range wireless communication such as NFC. In the first embodiment,the printing apparatus 110 is equipped with an NFC tag 111 (Near FieldCommunication tag) which stores connection information (an IP address,MAC address, model name of the printing apparatus 110 or the like) usedto connect to the printing apparatus 110. By bringing the mobileterminal 100 close to the NFC tag 111, the mobile terminal 100 can readand obtain the connection information from the NFC tag 111 or writeinformation into the NFC tag 111. In this way, the mobile terminal 100and other mobile terminals (not shown) can obtain the connectioninformation stored in the NFC tag 111 of the printing apparatus 110using NFC, and connect to the access point 120 based on the connectioninformation. The switching of connection between the mobile terminal 100and printing apparatus 110 to wireless communication such as Wi-Fi usinginformation obtained by short range wireless communication such as NFCin this way is referred to as a handover. The handover provides the userof the mobile terminal 100 with the advantage of being able to save theuser from entering information (the SSID and security key of the accesspoint 120) used to connect to the access point 120 into the mobileterminal 100.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram for describing a hardware configuration ofthe NFC tag 111 according to the first embodiment.

An antenna 1111 is connected to a controller 1112. When electric poweris supplied to the antenna 1111 from a short range wirelesscommunication unit 208 (FIG. 2A) of the mobile terminal 100 byelectromagnetic induction, the electric power is supplied to thecontroller 1112 as operating power of the controller 1112. Furthermore,in this state, the antenna 1111 operates as an antenna for wirelesscommunication with the short range wireless communication unit 208 ofthe mobile terminal 100. The controller 1112 communicates with themobile terminal 100 via the antenna 1111 and reads and writes to amemory 1113 according to read/write commands given via thecommunication. In this way, information of the printing apparatus 110including the IP address (described later) is written into the memory1113, allowing the information to be notified, for example, to themobile terminal 100 via the antenna 1111 as required.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram for describing a hardware configuration ofthe mobile terminal 100 according to the first embodiment. Note that themobile terminal 100 according to the first embodiment is assumed to be,for example, a smartphone, tablet PC, or the like, but the mobileterminal 100 may be any other information processing apparatus which canconduct wireless communication.

A CPU 201 controls operation of the mobile terminal 100 by executing aprogram deployed in a RAM 203 from a ROM 202 or flash memory 204. TheROM 202 stores a control program, various setting data, and the like. ARAM 203 is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory and awork area of the CPU 201. The flash memory 204 is used to store variousdata including photographs and electronic documents. Besides, the flashmemory 204 stores an OS (operating system) and application programs suchas an NFC writing application, NFC cooperative print application, andNFC cooperative scan application described later with reference to FIG.2B. Note that although in the following description, it is assumed thatthe process of the mobile terminal 100 is accomplished when one CPU 201executes processing shown in flowcharts described later, another formmay be used alternatively. For example, plural CPUs may jointly carryout each step shown in the flowchart described later.

An operation panel 205 has a touch panel function capable of detectingtouch actions of the user and displays various screens provided byapplication programs stored in the flash memory 204. The user can entera desired operating command by touching the operation panel 205. Notethat the mobile terminal 100 is further equipped with hardware keys (notshown), and the user can enter operating commands into the mobileterminal 100 using the hardware keys. A speaker 206 and microphone 207are used by the user to telephone another mobile terminal or afixed-line phone. The short range wireless communication unit 208conducts short range wireless communication such as NFC. In the firstembodiment, the printing apparatus 110 is equipped with the NFC tag 111,and when the user brings the mobile terminal 100 close to the NFC tag111 of the printing apparatus 110, short range wireless communication isestablished between the short range wireless communication unit 208 andthe NFC tag 111 of the printing apparatus 110. With short range wirelesscommunication being established, the short range wireless communicationunit 208 can obtain and rewrite information of the NFC tag 111.

A wireless communication unit 209 conducts wireless communication suchas Wi-Fi. By transmitting a search packet via the wireless communicationunit 209, the mobile terminal 100 can search for and find a printingapparatus capable of communicating via the access point 120. Also, withthe mobile terminal 100, the use of handover allows the user to carryout wireless communication via the wireless communication unit 209 by asimple operation. Specifically, using the connection information (SSIDand password of the access point 120) obtained from the NFC tag 111 ofthe printing apparatus 110 by the short range wireless communicationunit 208, the wireless communication unit 209 can connect to the accesspoint 120.

FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram for describing a softwareconfiguration of the mobile terminal 100 according to the firstembodiment. FIG. 2B is a block diagram of software functions implementedwhen the CPU 201 reads application programs stored in the ROM 202 orflash memory 204.

An OS 223 is an operating system which controls basic operation of themobile terminal 100. Various application programs can be installed onthe mobile terminal 100, including three applications 220 to 222described later. The OS 223 exchanges information with these applicationprograms, and then according to instructions received from any of theseapplication programs, the OS 223 displays a screen on the operationpanel 205 or conducts wireless communication using the wirelesscommunication unit 209.

An NFC writing application 220, which is an application programinstalled on the mobile terminal 100, can write information needed tocommunicate with the printing apparatus 110 available via the accesspoint 120 into the NFC tag 111. An NFC cooperative print application221, which is an application program installed on the mobile terminal100, performs a printing process by connecting to the printing apparatus110 using information needed to communicate with the printing apparatus110 and written into the NFC tag 111. An NFC cooperative scanapplication 222, which is an application program installed on the mobileterminal 100, can perform a scanning process by connecting to theprinting apparatus 110 using the information needed to communicate withthe printing apparatus 110 and written into the NFC tag 111. Note thatin addition to the application programs described above, variousapplication programs can be installed on the mobile terminal 100, butdescription thereof will be omitted.

FIGS. 3A to 3D and FIGS. 4A to 4B depict views illustrating examples oftransition of screens displayed on the operation panel 205 when the NFCwriting application 220 is executed on the mobile terminal 100 accordingto the first embodiment.

FIG. 3A shows an example of a display brought up on the operation panel205 when the NFC writing application 220 is launched on the mobileterminal 100. At this time, no printing apparatus is set, and thus adisplay area 311 indicates that no printing apparatus is set. A Writebutton 312 is grayed out, indicating that the Write button 312 will notrespond even if touched by the user. When the user touches the displayarea 311 in FIG. 3A, the screen shifts to a screen as shown in FIG. 3B.

FIG. 3B shows an example of a screen used to specify whether to searchfor a printing apparatus by a device search or direct input, where theprinting apparatus is a partner apparatus for communication. When theuser touches a device search area 321, a device search is started and ascreen as shown in FIG. 3C is displayed as a result of the devicesearch. In FIG. 3C, two printing apparatuses (Printer01 and Printer02)have been found as a result of the search, and apparatus informationabout the two printing apparatuses (names and IP addresses of theprinting apparatuses) has been obtained and displayed.

On the other hand, when the user touches a direct input area 322, ascreen as shown in FIG. 3D is displayed, allowing the user to enter anIP address or DNS name directly. Note that “AP-NRT-01” is the SSID ofthe access point 120 connected wirelessly.

FIG. 3C shows an example of search results of a device search. Areas 331and 332 display information about printing apparatuses found by thedevice search. In this example, the names and IP addresses of printersare displayed. When the user touches either of the areas 331 and 332 onthis screen, information about the printing apparatus to be written intothe NFC tag 111 is determined and the screen is transferred to thescreen as shown in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 3D shows an example of a screen used to enter an IP address or DNSname directly. Here, the user enters an IP address or DNS name into aninput box 341. FIG. 3D shows a state in which an IP address has beenentered in the input box 341. Then, when the user touches an OK button343, the mobile terminal 100 verifies connection to the printingapparatus using the IP address, and obtains the name of the printingapparatus and IP address. Once the name of the printing apparatus and IPaddress are obtained successfully, the screen of the mobile terminal 100transfers to the screen as shown in FIG. 4A. If the user touches aCancel button 342, the mobile terminal 100 erases the screen and thescreen of the mobile terminal 100 returns to the screen as shown in FIG.3B.

FIG. 4A shows an example of a screen brought up on the operation panel205 when the user touches the area 331 in FIG. 3C or when the usertouches the OK button 343 in FIG. 3D. On this screen, the user confirmsthe name and the IP address of the printing apparatus displayed in anarea 351. Then, when the user touches a Write button 352 on this screen,the screen is transferred to the screen as shown in FIG. 4B. Note thatin FIG. 4A, the Write button 352 is displayed in normal, meaning that auser instruction for writing can be accepted.

The screen of FIG. 4B is displayed when the name and the IP address ofthe printing apparatus confirmed in FIG. 4A are about to be written intothe NFC tag 111. In this state, the short range wireless communicationunit 208 is ready to write information into the NFC tag 111. Then as theuser brings the mobile terminal 100 close to the NFC tag 111 of theprinting apparatus 110, the name and IP address of the printingapparatus 110 are written into the NFC tag 111. In this example, thename of the printing apparatus “Printer01”, IP address “192.167.127.22”,and MAC address are written. Note that a Cancel button 361 is touched bythe user to cancel writing into the NFC tag 111.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for describing processing of the mobile terminal100 for writing into the NFC tag 111 of the printing apparatus 110 inthe first embodiment. The steps of the flowchart are accomplished whenthe control program stored in the ROM 202 or flash memory 204 isexecuted under the control of the CPU 201.

First, the CPU 201 determines in step S501 whether a printing apparatussearch command has been issued by the user of the mobile terminal 100.Specifically, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the area 311 of theoperation panel 205 is touched in FIG. 3A. If the area 311 is touched,the process advances to step S502 by determining that the printingapparatus search command has been issued, but if the area 311 is nottouched, the process returns to step S501. In step S502, the CPU 201displays the screen as shown in FIG. 3B on the operation panel 205 andwaits until the user selects either a device search or direct input.Here, if the user touches the direct input area 322, the processadvances to step S505, and if the user touches the device search area321, the process advances to step S503.

In step S503, the CPU 201 searches for a printing apparatus ready tocommunicate via the access point 120 and displays results of the search,for example, as shown in FIG. 3C. In the case of the device search, themobile terminal 100 transmits a packet by broadcasting and establishesan SNMP connection to the IP address of each printing apparatus whichhas responded to the packet. Then, the CPU 201 obtains existenceconfirmation and a name of each printing apparatus (Printer01 andPrinter02 in the example of FIG. 3C) as well as an IP address and MACaddress of each printing apparatus from the responses. Next, in stepS504, the CPU 201 obtains the selection result of a printing apparatusselected by the user by touching the area 331 or 332 in FIG. 3C, andthen the process advances to step S509.

On the other hand, if the user selects the direct input area 322 in stepS502, the process advances to step S505 and displays a screen as shownin FIG. 3D, on the operation panel 205, allowing the user to enter an IPaddress or DNS name. Then, the CPU 201 obtains the IP address or hostname entered by the user on the screen. Next, the process advances tostep S506 and conducts a connection confirmation test to test theconnection to the IP address or DNS name and thereby determine whetheror not the printing apparatus actually exists. Specifically, the CPU 201establishes an SNMP connection to the entered IP address or DNS name,obtains the existence confirmation of the apparatus as well as the name,IP address, and MAC address of the printing apparatus. Next, the processadvances to step S507, where if the name and IP address of the printingapparatus have been obtained as a result of the connection confirmationtest in step S506, the process advances to step S509, but if theconnection has failed, the CPU 201 notifies the user of the connectionfailure in step S508 and then returns to step S502.

As a result of the above process, a printing apparatus can be identifiedby the printing apparatus selection through the device search in stepsS503 to S504, or by the direct input in steps S505 to S507. Once theprinting apparatus to be connected is identified in this way, the CPU201 displays a screen as shown in FIG. 4A, on the operation panel 205 instep S509.

In step S509, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the user has touchedthe Write button 352 of FIG. 4A, entering a command for writinginformation into the NFC tag 111. Here, if it is determined that awriting command has been entered, the process advances to step S510, butif there is no writing command, the process returns to step S509. Instep S510, the CPU 201 performs a preparation process for writing intothe NFC tag 111. Specifically, the CPU 201 converts the IP address andthe name of the printing apparatus 110 obtained by the device search ordirect input into a format of the NFC tag 111 and holds the resultingdata in the RAM 203. Then, the CPU 201 switches the display on theoperation panel 205 to a screen as shown in FIG. 4B, prompting the userto touch the NFC tag 111 with the mobile terminal 100 to write theinformation into the NFC tag 111.

FIG. 12A is a diagram showing an example of the data format created instep S510 and used to write information into the NFC tag 111.

Reference numeral 1201 denotes startup application information whichdescribes a name of an application to be launched when the NFC tag 111is touched by the mobile terminal 100. In this example, the startupapplication information indicates that an NFC cooperative printapplication named “com.example.printapp” is launched. Reference numeral1202 denotes a record of a MAC address which is network connectioninformation. This is the MAC address of a searched printing apparatus.Although only the MAC address is described in FIG. 12A, a combination ofinformation such as the IP address and UUID which can distinguish theprinting apparatus 110 may be used instead. Reference numeral 1203denotes a record for storing a device name. The record stores“Printer01” which is the name of the searched printing apparatus.

Next, in step S511, the CPU 201 determines whether the user has broughtthe mobile terminal 100 close to the NFC tag 111 and touched the NFC tag111 with the mobile terminal 100. If the NFC tag 111 has not beentouched, the process returns to step S511, but if the NFC tag 111 hasbeen touched, the process advances to step S512. In step S512, the CPU201 writes the information created in step S510 into the NFC tag 111 viathe short range wireless communication unit 208. Then, in step S513, theCPU 201 determines whether or not the writing into the NFC tag 111 hasbeen successful. If it is determined that the writing has beensuccessful, the process advances to step S514 and the CPU 201 notifiesthe user of the successful writing by voice using, for example, thespeaker 206 and/or by a display (not shown) provided on the operationpanel 205, indicating the success. After notifying the user in this waythat the writing into the NFC tag 111 has been successful, the CPU 201finishes the process. On the other hand, if it is determined in stepS513 that the writing has failed, the process advances to step S515, andthe CPU 201 notifies the user that the writing into the NFC tag 111 hasfailed by voice using, for example, the speaker 206 and/or by a display(not shown) presented on the operation panel 205, indicating thefailure. Then, the process returns to step S511.

In the processes described above, since the information written into theNFC tag 111 has undergone the device search in steps S503 to S504 andconnection confirmation test in step S506 before the writing, it ispossible to prevent wrong information from being written into the NFCtag 111.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for describing processing of the mobile terminal100 according to the first embodiment, in which the mobile terminal 100reads the NFC tag 111 of the printing apparatus 110 and makes theprinting apparatus 110 perform printing. Note that the steps of theflowchart are accomplished by execution of the control program stored inthe ROM 202 or flash memory 204 under the control of the CPU 201.

First, the CPU 201 determines in step S1301 whether the short rangewireless communication unit 208 has detected that the user has touchedthe NFC tag 111 of the printing apparatus 110 with the mobile terminal100. If it is determined here that the user has touched the NFC tag 111with the mobile terminal 100, the process advances to step S1302.Otherwise, the CPU 201 carries out step S1301. In step S1302, using theshort range wireless communication unit 208, the CPU 201 reads the datarecorded in the NFC tag 111. Here, the mobile terminal 100 obtains theIP address and MAC address of the printing apparatus 110 stored in theNFC tag 111. Next, in step S1303, the CPU 201 determines whether or notthe format of the data read in step S1302 is normal. If it is determinedhere that the data written into the NFC tag 111 is incorrect or that thereading of the NFC tag 111 has failed, the process advances to stepS1304. In step S1304, the CPU 201 provides an error indication (notshown) on the operation panel 205 and notifies the user of the failureto read the NFC tag 111 and thereby finishes the process.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1303 that data has beenread from the NFC tag 111 successfully and that the format of the datais normal, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1305. In stepS1305, to check whether the printing apparatus corresponding to theobtained IP address really exists, the CPU 201 causes the wirelesscommunication unit 209 to make an inquiry about the printing apparatusvia the access point 120 using a broadcast packet. This is carried outin a manner similar to the process of step S506 in FIG. 5. In stepS1306, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the printing apparatuscorresponding to the IP address obtained in step S1302 really exists. Ifit is determined that the printing apparatus corresponding to the IPaddress exists, the CPU 201 identifies the printing apparatus in stepS1310, and then transmits a print job to the IP address of the printingapparatus in step S1311 in order for printing to be done. In this case,the MAC address is not used.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1306 that the printingapparatus corresponding to the IP address does not exist, the CPU 201advances the process to step S1307. Note that the description to theeffect that the printing apparatus corresponding to the obtained IPaddress does not exist assumes, for example, a situation in which the IPaddress of the printing apparatus has been changed due to changes in aDHCP environment, setting changes made by the user, or the like. In stepS1307, to check whether the printing apparatus really exists, the CPU201 causes the wireless communication unit 209 to make an inquiry aboutthe printing apparatus via the access point 120 using a broadcastpacket. Next, in step S1308, the CPU 201 receives a response packet(response) from the printing apparatus via the wireless communicationunit 209, inquires of the printing apparatus the MAC address of theprinting apparatus using SNMP, and receives a response from the printingapparatus. The response to the inquiry packet contains the MAC addressand IP address. Note that although the CPU 201 obtains the MAC addressof the printing apparatus via SNMP in step S1308, the CPU 201 may obtainthe MAC address by searching a MAC address table (ARP table) of the OS223.

Next, in step S1309, the CPU 201 compares the MAC address stored in theNFC tag 111 read in step S1302 with the MAC address obtained in stepS1308. If the MAC addresses match, the CPU 201 advances the process tostep S1310, and if the MAC addresses do not match, the process advancesto step S1312 to determine whether or not a time-out has occurred. Notethat if the MAC address obtained from the NFC tag does not match the MACaddress in the response packet, it is conceivable that the printingapparatus having the NFC tag has been powered off. In step S1310, theCPU 201 identifies the IP address of the printing apparatus which hastransmitted the response packet in step S1308 as that of the printingapparatus 110 with the NFC tag 111 attached thereto and sets the IPaddress as that of the printing apparatus which will carry out printing.Then, in step S1311, the CPU 201 transmits print data to the printingapparatus 110 of the IP address determined in step S1310 and therebyperforms a printing process. Specifically, the CPU 201 transmits a file(image data) selected by the user via the operation panel 205 to theprinting apparatus 110 having the IP address determined in step S1308,makes the printing apparatus 110 perform printing, and then finishes theprocess when the printing is finished.

On the other hand, in step S1312, the CPU 201 counts an elapsed timefrom step S1307 and if a time period equal to or longer than apredetermined time period (e.g., 10 seconds or more) elapses, the CPU201 advances the process to step S1313 as a time-out. In step S1313, theCPU 201 provides an error indication (not shown) on the operation panel205, informing the user that the printing apparatus written into the NFCtag 111 was not able to be found and thereby finishes the process. Onthe other hand, if the CPU 201 determines that the time-out does notoccur in step S1312, the process returns to step S1308.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, by writing intothe NFC tag of a printing apparatus only when connection to the printingapparatus is confirmed, it is possible to prevent wrong printingapparatus information from being written into the NFC tag. Also, bysimply touching the NFC tag with the mobile terminal, a communicationconnection to the printing apparatus can be set easily and a printingprocess can be performed easily using the printing apparatus. Note thatin the first embodiment, a target printing apparatus is searched forfirst using the IP address. This is because a shorter time is requiredfor processing than in a case that MAC addresses are compared. Thus, bysearching for a printing apparatus first through determination as towhether IP addresses match, it is possible to reduce the time requiredto transmit a print job and perform printing.

Second Embodiment

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.The example described above with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3D and FIGS.4A and 4B in the first embodiment involves searching for a printingapparatus, identifying the printing apparatus, and writing connectioninformation into the NFC tag 111 of the printing apparatus. In thesecond embodiment, description will be given of an example in whichconnection information about wireless communication (Wi-Fi) is alsowritten into the NFC tag 111 in addition to the configuration describedabove. Note that the configuration of the communication system andhardware configuration of the mobile terminal 100 according to thesecond embodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment describedabove, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

Description will be given below of a case in which an SSID (Service SetIdentifier) and a password are used, where the SSID is set on the accesspoint 120 to identify a destination of wireless communication and thepassword is similarly set to maintain security.

FIGS. 6A to 6C, FIGS. 7A to 7C, and FIGS. 8A to 8C depict viewsillustrating examples of transition of screens displayed on theoperation panel 205 when the NFC writing application 220 is executed onthe mobile terminal 100 according to the second embodiment. Operation ofthe NFC writing application 220 will be described in detail later withreference to a flowchart of FIG. 9. Note that the writing screen of FIG.4B in common with the first embodiment is omitted in FIG. 6A to FIG. 8Cby so noting.

FIG. 6A depicts a view showing an example of a screen displayed on theoperation panel 205 when the mobile terminal 100 according to the secondembodiment is started.

In FIG. 6A, a Wi-Fi connection display area 611 and a printing apparatusdisplay area 612 are displayed, both are not set. Also, a Write button613 is grayed out, indicating that the Write button 613 will not respondeven if touched by a user. Now, if the user touches the Wi-Fi connectiondisplay area 611, the screen shifts to a screen as shown in FIG. 6B.

FIG. 6B depicts a view illustrating an example of a screen used toselect how to set Wi-Fi connection information.

A button 622 is designated to write NFC tag information shown in FIG.12A in a manner similar to the first embodiment without specifying anSSID. That is, only the startup application information 1201, networkconnection information 1202, and printing apparatus name information1203 are written into the NFC tag. A button 623 is designated to specifythe use of an SSID for currently connected wireless communication. Abutton 624 is designated to display a list of access points currentlyavailable for connection and selecting a wireless connection. A button625 is designated to specify manual input of an SSID by the user.

FIG. 6C depicts a view illustrating an example of a screen displayedwhen the user touches the button 623 on the screen of FIG. 6B. On thescreen of FIG. 6C, “AP-NRT-01” which is the SSID of the access point 120connected currently is displayed automatically in an area 631. FIG. 6Calso shows that the user is entering a password in a password inputfield 632. Here, when the user touches a Connection Test button 633after entering the password, the screen shifts to the screen as shown inFIG. 7A. Note that although in FIG. 6C, the SSID is obtained frominternal information of the mobile terminal 100, the password is enteredby the user because password information cannot be obtained for thesecurity.

FIG. 7A depicts a view illustrating an example of a connection testscreen for wireless communication based on the SSID and password enteredon the screen of FIG. 6C. A message and graphics are displayed here,indicating that a connection test is going on. If connection is verifiedhere, the screen shifts to a screen as shown in FIG. 7B. When the userpresses an OK button 701 on the screen of FIG. 7B, the screen shifts tothe screen of FIG. 7C.

FIG. 7C depicts a view illustrating an example of a state in whichestablishment of communication has been confirmed by a wirelessconnection test via the access point 120. Here, an area 702 displays theSSID “AP-NRT-01” of the access point 120 confirmed for communication bythe wireless connection test. Note that since a printing apparatus stillis not set, an area 703 displays status in which the printing apparatusis not set. Now, when the user touches the area 703, the screen istransferred to the printing apparatus search screen as shown in FIG. 3Bdescribed above. Subsequently, a printing apparatus to be used forprinting is searched for in a manner similar to the first embodimentdescribed above.

FIG. 8A depicts a view illustrating an example of a screen displayedwhen the search for a printing apparatus has been finished as a resultof operations in FIG. 3B to FIG. 3D. That is, when the user chooses toset a printing apparatus by touching the area 703 on the screen of FIG.7C, the screen is transferred to the screen as shown in FIG. 3B andallowed to set a printing apparatus in the manner described above withreference to FIGS. 3A to 3D and FIGS. 4A and 4B. Then, if the usertouches the Write button 613 on the screen of FIG. 8A, the screen shiftsto the writing screen as shown in FIG. 4B to write into the NFC tag 111.

FIG. 8B depicts a view illustrating an example of a screen displaying alist of access points currently available for connection when the usertouches the Wi-Fi Select button 624 on the screen of FIG. 6B. Here, whenthe user selects a desired access point by touching any of areas 801 to803, the screen is transferred to the screen as shown in FIG. 6C andasked to enter a password.

FIG. 8C depicts a view illustrating an example of a screen displayedwhen the user touches the Manual Input button 625 on the screen of FIG.6B. Here, the user enters “AP-NRT-secret-01” into an SSID input area 804and then enters a password into a password input area 805. Then, whenthe user touches a Connection Test button 806, the screen is transferredto the screen of FIG. 7A and a connection test is carried out asdescribed above.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for describing processing of the mobile terminal100 according to the second embodiment, in which the mobile terminal 100searches for a printing apparatus by radio and writes connectioninformation into the NFC tag 111 of the printing apparatus 110. Thesteps of the flowchart are accomplished when the CPU 201 executes thecontrol program stored in the ROM 202 or flash memory 204. This processinvolves the process of preparing setting information for wirelesscommunication additionally as a process performed before the printingapparatus selection process (steps S502 to S509) and a data writing intothe NFC tag (steps S511 to S515) in FIG. 5 described above.

First, in step S901, the CPU 201 waits until the user of the mobileterminal 100 selects how to set Wi-Fi connection information on thescreen of FIG. 6A. Specifically, the CPU 201 determines whether or notthe user has touched the Wi-Fi connection display area 611 on the screenof FIG. 6A. If the user has touched the Wi-Fi connection display area611, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S902, but otherwise, theprocess returns to step S901. In step S902, the CPU 201 displays, forexample, the screen as shown in FIG. 6B, and the process branches to anappropriate step according to a selection made by the user of the mobileterminal 100 on the screen of FIG. 6B. If the user touches the button622 on the screen of FIG. 6B, indicating that the user will not specifyan SSID, the process advances to step S911. In step S911, the CPU 201stores information in the RAM 203, indicating that no SSID will bewritten, and the process advances to step S912. Then, in step S913, theCPU 201 uses the stored information in preparation for writing. Thus, inthis case, NFC tag information which does not contain an SSID isgenerated.

On the other hand, if the user touches the button 623 for selecting thecurrently connected Wi-Fi, the CPU 201 advances the process to stepS903, obtains the SSID from the currently connected wirelesscommunication unit 209, and then the process advances to step S907.

If the user touches the Wi-Fi Select button 624 in step S902, the CPU201 advances the process to step S904, and displays a list of accesspoints currently available for connection, for example, as shown in FIG.8B. In step S904, the CPU 201 displays a list of access points availablefor connection by obtaining a list of SSIDs currently available forconnection from the wireless communication unit 209 so that the user isable to select any one of the displayed SSIDs. Then, in step S905, theCPU 201 obtains the SSID selected by a user operation and advances theprocess to a password input process in step S907.

If the user touches the Manual Input button 625 in step S902, the CPU201 advances the process to step S906, displays a screen shown, forexample, in FIG. 8C, and obtains the SSID entered by the user manuallyvia the screen, and then the process advances to step S907.

In step S907, the CPU 201 displays, for example, the screen of FIG. 6Cor FIG. 8C and obtains the password entered by the user via the screen.Then, in step S908, the CPU 201 waits until the user touches theConnection Test button 633 or 806 of FIG. 6C or FIG. 8C, and if the usertouches the Connection Test button, the CPU 201 advances the process tostep S909 to carry out a connection test. If the connection issuccessful as a result, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S912and enables writing into the NFC tag 111, but if the connection isunsuccessful, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S910 to disablewriting into the NFC tag 111 and notify the user of the connectionfailure, and then the process returns to step S902.

In step S912, the CPU 201 performs a printing apparatus selectionprocess. This process is identical with the process of step S501 to stepS509 in FIG. 5 described in the first embodiment. Thus, detaileddescription will be omitted here. As a result of selecting a printingapparatus in step S912, the CPU 201 stores apparatus information aboutthe selected printing apparatus. Next, in step S913, the CPU 201performs a preparation process for writing data into the NFC tag 111.Specifically, the SSID setting made in steps S902 to S911 as well as theMAC address (or IP address) and name of the printing apparatus 110obtained in step S912 are converted into the format (NDEF) of the NFCtag and held in the RAM 203. Then, the CPU 201 switches an operationscreen to the writing status screen of FIG. 4B and advances the processto step S914.

Now, the format written into the NFC tag created in step S913 will bedescribed. If it is determined in step S911 not to use any SSID, thesame format as that in FIG. 12A of the first embodiment is used. On theother hand, if the user selects any one of the buttons 623 to 625 on thescreen of FIG. 6B in step S902, the format shown in FIG. 12B is used.

In FIG. 12B, startup application information 1201, network connectioninformation 1202, and printing apparatus name information 1203 are thesame as the respective records in FIG. 12A of the first embodimentdescribed above. Wi-Fi connection information 1204 has been added inFIG. 12B, where the Wi-Fi connection information 1204 includes SSID andpassword information about the access point 120 ready to be connected tothe printing apparatus 110.

In step S914, the CPU 201 writes information into the NFC tag 111. Thisprocess is the same as the process of step S511 to step S515 accordingto the first embodiment. Thus, detailed description will be omittedhere. When the process of writing into the NFC tag 111 in step S914finishes, the writing into the NFC tag 111 is completed.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, writing into theNFC tag 111 is performed only when connection to the access point 120and connection to the printing apparatus 110 are confirmed. This makesit possible to prevent wrong information from being written into the NFCtag 111, including wrong SSID and password information about the accesspoint 120 and wrong information about the printing apparatus 110. Also,as NFC tag information, connection information including the SSID andpassword for wireless connection can be recorded.

Third Embodiment

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. Inthe second embodiment described above, a printing apparatus isdetermined on the screen as shown in FIG. 4A according to the firstembodiment. In addition, an example has been described in whichdestination information about a wireless communication network isdetermined through the operation in FIG. 6B and subsequent operationsand written into the NFC tag 111. In the third embodiment, descriptionwill be given of a case in which information about a printing method andstartup application is also written into the NFC tag 111 in addition tothe configuration described above. Note that in the third embodiment,the configuration of the communication system and hardware configurationof the mobile terminal 100 are similar to those of the first embodimentdescribed above, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

The reason why the user is made to select a printing method and startupapplication is that a compatible application differs depending onwhether the printing apparatus is a sublimation type or a laser type andit is, therefore, necessary to change the startup applicationinformation 1201 of FIG. 12B written into the NFC tag 111.

FIGS. 10A to 10D depict views showing examples of a screen displayed onthe operation panel 205 of the mobile terminal 100 according to thethird embodiment. The examples shown here involve the operation ofdeciding a printing method, an application to be used for printing, andwireless communication connection information, searching for a printingapparatus, and thereby writing into the NFC tag 111. The operation ofthe NFC writing application will be described in detail later withreference to a flowchart of FIG. 11. Note that setting screens in commonwith the first or second embodiment described above are omitted in FIGS.10A to 10D by so noting.

FIG. 10A shows a view illustrating an example of a screen displayed onthe operation panel 205 when the mobile terminal 100 according to thethird embodiment is started. None of a Printing Method area 1011, App ToBe Used area 1012, Wi-Fi Connection display area 1013, and PrintingApparatus setting area 1014 is set yet. Also, a Write button 1015 isgrayed out, indicating that the Write button 1015 will not respond evenif touched by the user. Now, if the user touches the Printing Methodarea 1011, the screen shifts to the screen of FIG. 10B.

FIG. 10B shows a view illustrating an example of a screen which allowsthe user to select a printing method. Buttons 1016 and 1017 are used toselect a sublimation type and laser type printers, respectively, asprinting methods of the printing apparatus 110. Now, if the user toucheseither of the buttons 1016 and 1017, the screen is transferred to thescreen a shown in FIG. 10C.

FIG. 10C shows a view illustrating an example of a screen used to selecta startup application. Buttons 1018 and 1019 are used to select a printapplication and scan application, respectively, for the printingapparatus 110. If the user touches either of the buttons 1018 and 1019,the screen shifts to a Wi-Fi connection selection screen of FIG. 6B.

FIG. 10D shows a view illustrating an example of a screen in which aprinting method and startup application has been selected in FIGS. 10Bto 10C, wireless communication settings are completed by the operationsdescribed with reference to FIGS. 6A to 8C, and the search for printingapparatus is finished by the operations of FIGS. 3B to 3D. Now, if theuser touches the Write button 1015, the screen is transferred to thewriting screen as shown in FIG. 4B.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for describing processing of the mobile terminal100 according to the third embodiment. This process additionallyinvolves the process of selecting a printing method and startupapplication as a process performed before the selection of wirelesscommunication settings (steps S901 to S911) in FIG. 9, the selection ofa printing apparatus (steps S502 to S509), and writing into the NFC tag(steps S511 to S515) in FIG. 5. The steps of the flowchart areaccomplished when the control program stored in the ROM 202 or flashmemory 204 is executed under the control of the CPU 201.

First, in step S1101, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the user ofthe mobile terminal 100 has taken action to select a printing method.Specifically, the CPU 201 determines whether or not the user has touchedthe Printing Method area 1011 in FIG. 10A. If the user has taken actionto select the printing method, the CPU 201 advances the process to stepS1102. Otherwise, the process returns to step S1101. In step S1102, theCPU 201 displays, for example, the screen as shown in FIG. 10B andbranches the process depending on the button touched by the user of themobile terminal 100. Here, if the user touches the Sublimation button1016 in step S1102, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1103,stores the printing method as Sublimation in the RAM 203, and then theprocess advances to step S1105. On the other hand, if the user touchesthe Laser button 1017, the CPU 201 advances the process to step S1104,stores the printing method as Laser in the RAM 203, and then the processadvances to step S1105.

In step S1105, the CPU 201 displays, for example, the screen as shown inFIG. 10C and waits until the user of the mobile terminal 100 takesaction to select an application. If the user takes action to select anapplication, the process advances to step S1106 and the CPU 201determines the application selected by the user. If it is determined instep S1106 that the user has selected the Print App button 1018, the CPU201 advances the process to step S1107, stores a print application asthe startup application in the RAM 203, and then the process advances tostep S1109. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1106 thatthe user has selected the Scan App button 1019, the CPU 201 advances theprocess to step S1108, stores a scan application including a printoperation as the startup application in the RAM 203, and then theprocess advances to step S1109.

In step S1109, the CPU 201 performs the process of selecting a Wi-Ficonnection information. This process is the same as the process of stepsS901 to S911 in FIG. 9 according to the second embodiment describedabove, and thus description thereof will be omitted here. Next, in stepS1110, the CPU 201 performs the process of selecting a printingapparatus. This process is the same as the process of steps S501 to S509in FIG. 5 according to the first embodiment described above, and thusdescription thereof will be omitted. Once a printing method and startupapplication have been selected in steps S1101 to S1108, Wi-Fi connectioninformation is selected in step S1109, and a printing apparatus isselected in step S1110 in this way, preparations for writing into theNFC tag 111 are completed.

In step S1111, the CPU 201 performs a preparation process for writinginformation into the NFC tag 111. Specifically, the CPU 201 obtains theinformation about the printing method determined in step S1103 or stepS1104 and the startup application determined in step S1107 or S1108.Furthermore, the SSID setting made in steps S902 to S911 and the MACaddress (or IP address) and the name of the printing apparatus 110obtained in step S912 are converted into the format of the NFC tag 111and held in the RAM 203. Here, the format written into the NFC tag isthe same format as that in FIG. 12B of the second embodiment. However,information about the application to be launched changes depending onthe printing method and startup application, and thus CPU 201 determinesthe NFC tag format by determining the starting application name withreference to a table, as shown in FIG. 12C, held in the ROM 202.

In FIG. 12C, startup applications are registered by being associatedwith a printing method and a print/scan application.

Next, in step S1112, the CPU 201 switches the operation screen to thewriting status screen of FIG. 4B, where if the NFC tag 111 of theprinting apparatus 110 is touched by the mobile terminal 100, the CPU201 writes the information prepared in step S1111 into the NFC tag 111.This process is the same as the process of steps S511 to S515 accordingto the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof will beomitted. In this way, the writing into the NFC tag 111 is completed.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, writing into theNFC tag of a printing apparatus is performed only in a case that theprinting method of the printing apparatus, startup application,connection to an access point, and connection to the printing apparatusare confirmed. This makes it possible to prevent wrong information frombeing written into the NFC tag, including a wrong startup application,wrong SSID and wrong password information about the access point, andwrong printing apparatus information.

Other Embodiments

Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computerof a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executableinstructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium(which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one ormore of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one ormore circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) forperforming the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the systemor apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computerexecutable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functionsof one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controllingthe one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of theabove-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or moreprocessors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit(MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separateprocessors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions.The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer,for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage mediummay include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-accessmemory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributedcomputing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digitalversatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, amemory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2014-130688, filed Jun. 25, 2014, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of controlling a communication systemincluding an information processing apparatus, a printing apparatus, anda NFC (Near Field Communication) tag, the method comprising: accepting,for the information processing apparatus, a communication address of theprinting apparatus based on a user input via a setting screen;transmitting, for the information processing apparatus, packet data to adestination of the accepted communication address; transmitting, for theprinting apparatus that received the packet data, response data to theinformation processing apparatus in response to a reception of thepacket data; determining, for the information processing apparatus,whether a communication error has occurred, based on a reception resultof the response data; writing, for the information processing apparatus,tag data including at least the accepted communication address in theNFC tag with a short range wireless communication at least upon acondition in which it is determined that the communication error has notoccurred; and establishing, for the information processing apparatus,communication with the printing apparatus based on the communicationaddress included in the tag data read from the NFC tag after theinformation processing apparatus reads the tag data from the NFC tagafter completion of writing the tag data, wherein the informationprocessing apparatus is able to transmit print data to the printingapparatus that has established the communication with the informationprocessing apparatus.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, inthe determining, the information processing apparatus determines thatthe communication error has occurred in a case that the informationprocessing apparatus cannot receive the response data in response to thepacket data.
 3. A method of controlling an information processingapparatus for writing a tag data in a NFC (Near Field Communication)tag, the method comprising: accepting a communication address of aprinting apparatus based on a user input via a setting screen;transmitting packet data to a destination of the accepted communicationaddress; determining whether a communication error has occurred, basedon a reception status of response data in response to the transmittedpacket data; and notifying a user of predetermined error informationwithout writing the tag data in the NFC tag upon a condition in which itis determined that the communication error has occurred.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 3, wherein the method further comprises notifying theuser of information for prompting the user to touch the NFC tag in acase that a predetermined operation by the user is accepted and thecommunication error has not occurred.
 5. The method according to claim4, wherein the method further comprises writing tag data including atleast the accepted communication address in the NFC tag with a shortrange wireless communication, after displaying the information forprompting the user to touch the NFC tag.
 6. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing aprocessor to execute a method of controlling an information processingapparatus for writing tag data in a NFC (Near Field Communication) tag,the method comprising: accepting a communication address of a printingapparatus based on a user input via a setting screen; transmittingpacket data to a destination of the accepted communication address;determining whether a communication error has occurred, based on areception status of response data in response to the transmitted packetdata; and writing the tag data including at least the acceptedcommunication address in the NFC tag with a short range wirelesscommunication at least upon a condition in which it is determined thatthe communication error has not occurred.
 7. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 6, wherein thesetting screen includes display object for accepting an IP address ofthe printing apparatus.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 6, wherein the packet data is transmitted inconformity to an SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol).
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 6,wherein, the packet data is transmitted in accordance with an IPcommunication method other than the short range wireless communication.10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according toclaim 6, further comprising generating the tag data to be written in theNFC tag based on the accepted communication address.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 6,further comprising: receiving a setting related to a start of anapplication from a user; and generating the tag data including at leastthe accepted communication address and data indicating an application tobe started in accordance with having received a user operation forinstructing to write in the NFC tag after the setting related to thestart of the application and the communication address have beenaccepted.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 6, further comprising: receiving, from a user, asetting for designating whether or not information related to a wirelessconnection is included in the tag data to be written in the NFC tag; andgenerating the tag data including at least the accepted communicationaddress and data corresponding to an access point for the wirelessconnection in accordance with that the setting designates that theinformation related to the wireless connection is included in the tagdata.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium accordingto claim 6, further comprising reading the tag data from the NFC tagwith the short range wireless communication.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 6, furthercomprising displaying a notification for prompting the user to touch theNFC tag with the information processing apparatus upon a condition inwhich it is determined that the communication error has not occurred andan instruction for writing the tag data in the NFC tag is received fromthe user.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 6, further comprising notifying a user of errorinformation in a case where it is determined that the communicationerror has occurred.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium according to claim 6, wherein the program is an applicationprogram being capable of installing in the information processingapparatus.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storinga program for causing a processor to execute a method of controlling aninformation processing apparatus for writing tag data in a NFC (NearField Communication) tag, the method comprising: accepting acommunication address of a printing apparatus based on a user input viaa setting screen; transmitting packet data to the printing apparatusbased on the accepted communication address; determining whether acommunication error has occurred, based on a reception status ofresponse data in response to the transmitted packet data; and notifyinga user of predetermined error information without writing the tag datain the NFC tag upon a condition in which it is determined that thecommunication error has occurred.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 17, wherein themethod further comprises notifying the user of information for promptingthe user to touch the NFC tag in a case that a predetermined operationby the user is accepted and the communication error has not occurred.19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according toclaim 18, wherein the method further comprises writing tag dataincluding at least the accepted communication address in the NFC tagwith a short range wireless communication, after displaying theinformation for prompting the user to touch the NFC tag.
 20. A method ofcontrolling an information processing apparatus for writing a tag datain a NFC tag, the method comprising: accepting a communication addressof a printing apparatus from a user based on a user input via a settingscreen; transmitting packet data to the printing apparatus based on theaccepted communication address; determining whether a communicationerror has occurred, based on a reception status of response data inresponse to the transmitted packet data; writing the tag data includingat least the accepted communication address in the NFC tag with a shortrange wireless communication after having received an instruction forwriting the accepted identification information in the NFC tag from theuser in accordance with at least having determined that thecommunication error has not occurred; and notifying a user ofpredetermined error information without writing the tag data in the NFCtag based on at least having determined that the communication error hasoccurred.
 21. A method of controlling an information processingapparatus for writing tag data in a NFC (Near Field Communication) tag,the method comprising: accepting communication address of a printingapparatus based on a user input via a setting screen; transmittingpacket data to the printing apparatus based on the acceptedcommunication address; determining whether a communication error hasoccurred, based on a reception status of response data in response tothe transmitted packet data; and writing the tag data including at leastthe accepted communication address in the NFC tag with a short rangewireless communication at least upon a condition in which it isdetermined that the communication error has occurred.
 22. The methodaccording to claim 21, wherein the setting screen includes displayobject for accepting an IP address of the printing apparatus as thecommunication address.
 23. The method according to claim 21, wherein thepacket data is transmitted in conformity to an SNMP (Simple NetworkManagement Protocol).
 24. The method according to claim 21, wherein thepacket data is transmitted in accordance with an IP communication methodother than the short range wireless communication.
 25. The methodaccording to claim 21, further comprising generating the tag data to bewritten in the NFC tag based on the accepted communication address. 26.The method according to claim 21, further comprising: receiving asetting related to a start of an application from a user; and generatingthe tag data including at least the accepted communication address anddata indicating an application to be started in accordance with havingreceived a user operation for instructing to write in the NFC tag afterthe setting related to the start of the application and thecommunication address have been accepted.
 27. The method according toclaim 21, further comprising: accepting, from a user, a setting fordesignating whether or not information related to a wireless connectionis included in the tag data to be written in the NFC tag; and generatingthe tag data including at least the accepted communication address anddata corresponding to an access point for the wireless connection inaccordance with that the setting designates that the information relatedto the wireless connection is included in the tag data.
 28. The methodaccording to claim 21, further comprising reading the tag data from theNFC tag with the short range wireless communication.
 29. The methodaccording to claim 21, further comprising displaying a notification forprompting the user to touch the NFC tag with the information processingapparatus upon a condition in which it is determined that thecommunication error has not occurred based on the reception status ofthe response data in response to the transmitted packet data.
 30. Themethod according to claim 21, further comprising notifying a user of anerror notification in a case where it is determined that thecommunication error has occurred on the reception status of the responsedata in response to the transmitted packet data.
 31. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing aprocessor to execute a method of controlling an information processingapparatus for writing tag data in a NFC (Near Field Communication) tag,the method comprising: accepting a communication address of a printingapparatus based on a user input via a setting screen; transmittingpacket data to a destination of the accepted communication address; andnotifying a user of predetermined error information without writing thetag data in the NFC tag, in a case where at least response data to thepacket data is not received after transmitting the packet data.
 32. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 31,wherein the method further comprises notifying the user of informationfor prompting the user to touch the NFC tag, in a case where theresponse data is received after transmitting the packet data.
 33. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 32,wherein the method further comprises writing tag data including at leastthe accepted communication address in the NFC tag with a short rangewireless communication after displaying the information for promptingthe user to touch the NFC tag.